Medical stapling devices for endoscopic or laparoscopic surgery employ very complex mechanisms. Frequently, the devices rely on a set of cam bars and the like to eject the surgical staples from the staple cartridge. (See U.S. Pat. No. 3,499,591.) Complex linkages contained within the body of the device are used to articulate the staple cartridge and an anvil into position during the surgical procedure. (See U.S. Pat. No. 6,250,532.) The range of motion, flexibility and size of such stapling devices are restricted by these mechanisms. Examples of complicated apparatus for applying surgical staples to attach an object to body tissue is described in U.S. Pat. Pub. 2002/0117534, published Aug. 29, 2002. The apparatus requires complex mechanical actuating mechanisms for rotating and articulating the surgical device and then to cause the staple to be ejected from a store of staples. A flexible connection (fire wire) with a high level of fatigue life is needed between the push rod and the pusher plate at the pivot point of the articulated joint. In a similar fashion, see U.S. Pat. No. 6,250,532. The devices described in the patents contain complex linkages to eject the staples from the staple cartridge/magazine limiting the range-of-motion for the articulated end of the device. In some of the devices, cam bars are used to deploy the staples. The ability of the cam bars to deflect or flex is limited to approximately +/−45° of movement. Additional, when operating at the extremes of this travel, early fatigue failure of the cam bars is possible.
The power required to actuate the device of the invention disclosed herein is supplied to the staple cartridge through very small and flexible wires. Because of the small size and flexibility, the required space and packaging requirements are significantly less in comparison to the cam bars described in the patents of the prior art.
Polymeric materials having smart memory characteristics are described in “Shape Memory Polymers”: A. Yondlen, S. Kelch Angen, Chem Int. Ed. 2002, 41(12), pp. 2034-2057. The use of smart memory materials is discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,509,923. See also U.S. Pat. No. 6,388,043, herein incorporated by reference.
An apparatus for endoscopically applying body staples to body tissue is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,484,095.
Other patents which are generally related to surgical devices or smart memory materials are recited below.
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It is an object of the present invention to utilize a surgical device for attaching staples to a portion of a body by employing a smart memory material capable of going from one physical state to another physical state by means of an activating apparatus which is in communication with the smart memory material and which can cause the phase change which phase change causes movement of the staples against an anvil thereby securing the staples to the desired body portion.
It is also an object of the present invention to facilitate a method of attaching staples to a body portion utilizing the aforementioned surgical device.
It is also an object of the present invention to employ a surgical device for cutting a portion of a body where the surgical device has a knife that is capable of moving from a first to a second position which positions are spaced apart and to utilize a smart memory material which functions as described above; namely, utilizing an activating apparatus which is a communication with the smart memory material and by virtue of the change in the physical state can cause the movement of the knife thereby facilitating the cutting of the desired body portion.
It is also an object of the present invention to describe a method of performing a surgical operation employing the above-described surgical device for cutting a portion of the body.
It is also an object of the present invention to utilize the above-described surgical device for attaching staples which device also has the capability of cutting a portion of the body utilizing the combination of staples and knife by utilizing the combination of the surgical devices described above.
It is also an object of the present invention to perform a surgical operation utilizing the combined surgical device for stapling and cutting a portion of a body.